7. You shall
not commit adultery. Ex. 20:14
Hey, I’ve got
this one covered! I have never had sex
with another person while we were married.
I’ve been faithful to him. This is
one commandment that I’ve not broken, finally.
Is that what you’re thinking? I
would honestly be surprised if that was the truth and here’s the reason why
from just the sexual side of things.
Adultery in
Webster’s 1828 dictionary means “all manner of lewdness (indulgence of lust, all sexual sin, *remember
this but don’t look down yet) or unchastity (indulgence of sexual appetite) and *don’t look yet. Remember in the last post I said Jesus wants
us to be a cut above? He said, “But
I say to you that whoever looks on a woman to lust after her has already
committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Mt. 5:28). Tomorrow I’ll write another
verse that indicates thoughts are as bad as actions!
Okay, let’s put some of this
together. When we check ourselves for
breakage of this command, we can’t just check what we’ve physically done, but
have to check our mind as well. Do we
ever indulge in lust (fantasy- whether sexual or romantic, pornography, adult
movies, certain swimsuit calendars, etc) or indulge our sexual appetite in any
way physically (self pleasure) or in our mind?
For me, it was fantasy about the ‘perfect relationship’, playing out
emotionally fulfilled relationships in my head that satisfied my needs more
perfectly. (Just as dangerous to a
marriage as pornography imo.) Others use romance books with sexual scenes for
example.
Then there are tv shows and movies that
are far too easy to watch when in pops a lust filled scene, but do we turn
away or turn it off? No, we usually
leave it on. And sometimes the shows get
us cheering for the adulterous couple finally getting together! It’s crazy!
So we watch these things and it gets our blood pumping for others, or
others than our spouse. How ‘bout
listening to radio shows where they speak of these things and it can stir
feelings as well or laughing at sexual innuendo? Now remember, all these things are for
unmarried people as well. How we doing
so far?
…or God will judge the sexually immoral and
adulterous. Hb. 13:4 ESV
Flee fornication… 1Cr. 6:18
For you know this, that no fornicator, or unclean
person, or covetous one (who is an
idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom
of Christ and of God. Ep. 5:5
 |
| Even looking with lust... |
Now go back to the
definition of adultery and read the asterisks (*) to find out what adultery
includes.
Yes, that’s right, adultery (in the
Bible) included idolatry (worship of idols, any other creation/ creature or any
thing made of human hands; excessive attachment or veneration for any
thing) Since this topic will be covered
elsewhere, I will leave it at this. If
any thing is taking our affection,
our time, our money, our thoughts, more than we give God, we then place that
thing above God and are being idolatrous.
That could be anything, especially today with so many things vying for our attention.
To almost finish, this verse brings out God’s will for us
and how we should not be the same as others:
For this is the will of God, your sanctification, for
you to abstain from fornication (married or not), each one of you to know how
to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor (not in the passion of lust,
even as the nations who do not know God)… For God has not called us to
uncleanness, but in sanctification. 1Th. 4:3-5,7
So, in the deepest parts of our hearts have we kept this
commandment?
Commandment # 7 -broken often
*idolatry,
licentiousness
*idolatry, or apostasy (desertion of god) from the true God. Jer 3.